louddrummer69

Hello guys, well Friday a team of 10 guys are all setting out to Routt National Forest for a week long elk hunt. I've heard the weather is getting pretty badup there. This will be my first elk hunt, so I was wondering if anybody knows what the weather is like and what about the roads. Also with the cold weather are they going to be around 8000 ft. or so. I know where we are camping it is around 10000. Thanks and any additional help or advice is more than welcome!

hoghunters77

it's hard to get any info on here i think. i have been doing the same thing checking the weather and only had one reply. i herd the other day they had 6 inches of snow the roads near salada. where about are you hunting? i have an elk tag for the 3rd season.

Silver_Wolf

Talked to my aunt who lives 5 miles or so north of Steamboat, she said 18 inches of snow on the ground. Check the weather.com it has the low down for most places you want information on.

ELKampMaster

Elk are where you find them and sometimes they'll move down and other times they'll sit tight. That is what the advance scouting is for. I recommend 4WD and tire chains. Make sure that you have good soled boots and get ready for a potential slog.

We hunted the first rifle elk season and left early and given the reports I am glad I'm down here rather than up there. Looks like even more crap andcold on the way. Builds character.

louddrummer69

Thanks guys. Yeah I heard about the 18 inches of snow. The only advance scouting I was able to do was through looking at Topo's of the terrain and talking to local wildlife rangers about the area. He told us where we should go to get away from hunters and have a lot of elk. So we'll see. Hopefully he is right and I can come back with a good story or two that are successful.

louddrummer69

Hoghunters77. We are hunting directly west of Crowley almost to the Continental divide.

game4lunch

For weather info, go to http://www.nws.noaa.gov/and click on the map where you're going to be.
Also, there are a lot of web cams all over the net these days. I use this one for the area I go:
http://www.dayweather.com/keystone/weathertext.html

Try the Colorado Dept. of Trans. (CDOT) and see what they have for web cams on roads near or at your destination or route. You can see right now what the weather is doing.
Other than that, dress warm and in layers. Boots need to be tall, insulated, waterproof, comfortable, and plenty of grip for stumbling over snow covered obsticles. Taking care of your feetcan mean all the difference in enjoying or hating a hunt in the Rockies this time of year.

And one small reminder . . . know what you're shooting at.

timwlarsen

Just returned from unit 12-SE corner. Three different snow storms, first didn't stick. Elk #s' were not high above 10500 where we packed in and camped. Saw 1-2 different tracks a day working 5-6 miles a day. Tough to keep fired up. Saw one cow for 1/2 second right after shooting hours. Plenty of snow with more coming this weekend.

louddrummer69

Well guys just got back from Routt National Forest and let me tell you it was some hard hunting. There was over 20 inches of snow that dumped on us. The elk were a little scarce. All of us were shut out. We finally found where they were going down in elevation and it was too late they already passed through the area. Just couldn't get ahead of them. Did see 2 bulls and 7 cow about 1000 yds away just before night fall. I did get to witness 3 bull moose in the middle of the road and twoof them started bumping heads no more than 10 yds in front of our truck. It was fun and I definantly respect them animals!